Digital News Delivery: Breaking down the Breaking News+ app

When users search for news apps in the Apple app store, there are hundreds of results with very little that distinguish one app from another.

The Breaking News + app developed by NBC News, however, brings a personalized experience to users based on their proximity to a news event and their interests, and News Feed Reporters Emily Carrigan and Kate Monick assess this app in this week’s Digital News Delivery vodcast.

A website for the app says its “editors monitor social media and bring you breaking stories that are uniquely important to you.”

Some of its features include proximity alerts when big news breaks near the user’s location, push alerts for news users choose to follow and the ability to mute any topic that might be irrelevant to the user.

Users can also share their reaction to particular stories with the “Whoa!” feature, which will then aggregate a list of “the most surprising stories, photos and videos at the bottom of the feed,” the website reads.